7/24/2019 Munteanu Anca Sectiunea3eng

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Section 3. National legal sources

As we have seen in Section 1 and Section 2 above, international treaties lay down the core principles of

copyright and database protection. Various European Union Directives, as interpreted by the ourt of

!ustice of the European Union, provide for a certain degree of further har"oni#ation in the European

Union. $owever, although the copyright and database concepts applicable in %e"ber States are si"ilar,

the threshold of protection, the e&ceptions, the practical i"ple"entation and the enforce"ent proceedings

and re"edies differ substantially between %e"ber States. 't is therefore of utmost importance to take

into consideration the national legaltraditions, examining therefore both the applicable national

legislation and itsinterpretation by national courts.

As already "entioned in the 'ntroduction, this Study focuses on the national law of four countries which

have been selected in order to provide a first overview of the current legal situation in certain %e"ber

States of the European Union.

Belgium

Copyright

'n (elgiu", the opyright Act of 22 %arch 1))* was the first legislative instru"ent for the protection of

copyright. 't regulated for over a century the copyright+related issues in (elgiu", leaving its interpretation,

in light of technical evolution and particular cases, up to courts.

ith the evolution of technology and social practices, a need for change had arisen. -he Act of / !une

100 related to copyright and neighboring rights the 3BelgianCopyright Act34/ was therefore adopted

in order to incorporate the principles established by case+law on the basis of the previous law and, at the

sa"e ti"e, i"ple"ent the international treaties of which (elgiu" is a contracting party1. Very soon after

it ca"e into force, and contrary to the Act of 22 %arch 1))* which had re"ained in force for al"ost 1//

years without any "a5or change, the (elgian opyright Act was a"ended on several occasions. e

highlight the following two "a5or occurrences. 6irst, the Acts of 1/ August 100)2 and 1 August 100),

adopted in order to i"ple"ent Directive 0*70 related to database protection. Second, the Act of 22 %ay

2//8, adopted in order to i"ple"ent Directive 2//1720.'n addition, 9oyal Decrees were adopted by the

govern"ent with a view to i"ple"ent various provisions of the (elgian opyright Act.

Database rights

At the ti"e of its adoption, the (elgian opyright Act did not organise any database protection. Such

protection has been recognised later under (elgian law with the